EV Attack!

As others have documented, almost all the GM EV1 cars were either crushed or donated to universities and museums with their motor controllers permanently disabled. As far as I'm aware, there are one or maybe two surviving EV1s that can be driven. One belongs to the Smithsonian. Rumor has it that at least one remains in private hands due to GM's sloppy bookkeeping, though it can't be revealed because GM would consider it stolen. And that's all.

Or is it?

Remember there are quite a few (about 40 or so?) "disabled" EV1s out there without working controllers. However. . . Often overlooked is that GM marketed an electric Chevy S-10 pickup truck. It used exactly the same motor, batteries and controller as the EV1. About 50 of these trucks were sold -- not leased. They're still out there somewhere. In theory, someone could pull the controller from one of those pickups, install it into one of the "disabled" cars, and have a fully functional, fully legal EV1. Such a car would be tremendously valuable to car collectors.

One man has tried to do this. He established a small business (EV Bones LLC) maintaining and refurbishing the electric S-10 pickups. He tried to wheedle a disabled EV1 out of the various universities and other institutions, but after a while he gave up on that and is now working on something different. Now he is trying to adapt the S-10 powertrain into a K1 Attack Roadster!

For those not familiar with it, the K1 Attack is a less sophisticated competitor to the Lotus Elise. It has primarily been sold as a kit, which allows it to be legally assembled and registered without all the airbags and other regulatory equipment. The K1 Attack was also used as the basis of this car: http://www.autoblog.com/2005/08/15/hybrid-attack/

Good luck getting all the parts I've followed the attack since it's release and just about everyone on attackforums.com has received theirs as an incomplete package. Supposedly the owner of the US distributor is a real PITA. Nice looking car though.

As others have documented, almost all the GM EV1 cars were either crushed or donated to universities and museums with their motor controllers permanently disabled. As far as I'm aware, there are one or maybe two surviving EV1s that can be driven. One belongs to the Smithsonian. Rumor has it that at least one remains in private hands due to GM's sloppy bookkeeping, though it can't be revealed because GM would consider it stolen. And that's all.

Or is it?

Remember there are quite a few (about 40 or so?) "disabled" EV1s out there without working controllers. However. . . Often overlooked is that GM marketed an electric Chevy S-10 pickup truck. It used exactly the same motor, batteries and controller as the EV1. About 50 of these trucks were sold -- not leased. They're still out there somewhere. In theory, someone could pull the controller from one of those pickups, install it into one of the "disabled" cars, and have a fully functional, fully legal EV1. Such a car would be tremendously valuable to car collectors.

One man has tried to do this. He established a small business (EV Bones LLC) maintaining and refurbishing the electric S-10 pickups. He tried to wheedle a disabled EV1 out of the various universities and other institutions, but after a while he gave up on that and is now working on something different. Now he is trying to adapt the S-10 powertrain into a K1 Attack Roadster!

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I realize this is an ancient thread. A friend forwarded it to me, and I thought it would be nice to respond. Thanks Tony.

I had great aspirations of completing this car before Tesla began shipping the roadster. I'm still a few months from completion. Assembling a high performance EV from scratch was a huge task that I underestimated both in time and cost... Especially with one person doing it all.

Rather than commodity cobalt 18650 cells to power it, I went with thousands of A123 M1 nano phospate 26650 cells. Details on the battery module construction at near the last page of the posts. I opted for fewer cells (a 25kwhr pack) in order to maximize the vehicle performance.

Maybe I'll have an opportunity to race a Tesla Roadster when it's completed :smile:

All the trucks were sold by late in '07. Fifty Three in total I believe.
The five year plan ended in a little more than three when it became obvious there were not any more trucks coming out of utility service.
The telephone continued to ring constantly from prospective buyers, and still after changing the website to say all trucks were gone. So I finally pulled the page. It's all quiet now...

Everyone who owns a truck still has my# and email. I continue to support the trucks to this day. They don't break very often though.

All the trucks were sold by late in '07. Fifty Three in total I believe.
The five year plan ended in a little more than three when it became obvious there were not any more trucks coming out of utility service.
The telephone continued to ring constantly from prospective buyers, and still after changing the website to say all trucks were gone.

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Almost makes one think there might actually be a market for EV's :wink:

I've read through Jeff's posts on his forum. He mentions AC drive-train uses motor as (or part of) a charger and that it has to be electrically insulated from the chassis for this reason. The ACP-150 max regen power is supposedly only 20kW?

I know Tesla uses that ACP charging patent. Is Tesla's motor also electrically insulated from the chassis? Is max regen power also only 20kW or there about? I know they've set it at level that doesn't ruin stability but anyway? I'd like to know more

I know Tesla uses that ACP charging patent. Is Tesla's motor also electrically insulated from the chassis? Is max regen power also only 20kW or there about? I know they've set it at level that doesn't ruin stability but anyway? I'd like to know more

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I have heard or read an interview in the past that says the Roadster has mostly gotten away from the ACP patent and for future models plan to completely be free of it. I can't find the interview though, so perhaps I am misremembering.